NFL
Bears LB Khalil Mack set to have season ending surgery
The Bears have suffered without their star and now it seems that suffering will continue.
It appears that the former NFL Defensive Player of the year will not play again this season.
Bears Khalil Mack to undergo foot surgery
Star pass rusher Khalil Mack will have will unfortunately have a season-ending operation on his foot after which he will of course be placed on injured reserve. Head coach Matt Nagy confirmed plans for the procedure disclosed the fact that Mack will go under the knife next week. Speaking on the untimely situation, Nagy lamented their inability to recuperate Mack."With him, it's been the last several weeks just trying to get right. We did everything as far as trying to attack it the right way with him," Nagy said on Friday. "He's put in a lot of time and energy in trying to get back and see where things are at. But this is where we're at."
The Bears have been without Mack since week 7 due to the injury. Initially it was hoped that with rest and therapy he would be able to recover on his own. However, it has now been three weeks and there were was no real sign of progress. As such the decision has been taken to perform surgery which will certainly bring a premature end to Mack's season. "I know he's frustrated because he's such a competitor," Nagy said, "but this is the best thing for him and the best situation to be able to help him out and get it fixed."
The Bears have suffered without Mack
To say the Bears have missed Mack would be an understatement, In seven games that he has played this season, Mack posted six sacks, 19 tackles, and 22 total QB pressures. Mack isn't just the Bears' best pass rusher, but a veritable talisman whose absence has exposed a glaring weakness up front for Chicago. Over their last two games the Bears defense has allowed opponents to freely move up and down the field. Aside from losing those two games they also allowed an of 31 points in each. To their credit their the Bears have done what they can to address the void.
On Thursday they signed pass rusher Bruce Irvin, but it goes without saying that he will face a tough task in compensating for what Mack consistently offers. If one thing is certain it's that Chicago needs to get things on the right track, right now. They are coming off of four straight losses as they head into a complicated game against the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday at Soldier Field. Chicago has lost seven consecutive games following its bye week with their last post bye win coming in Week 9 of 2013. It is the longest streak of losses following a bye week since the Raiders lost 10 straight post-bye games from 2003-2012.